Comments on: Tivo without the service

Question: Tivo without the service

aacheson — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:03:33 -0800

Can I use my TiVo box without paying for service?

I think it's a series 2 with 40 hours recording time. (It was given to my parents as a gift and they don't want it so they gave it to me.) I don't have cable so it seems silly to pay for $13.00 for 5 channels. But we'd like to record some things and not get all the fancy stuff...just record on a schedule. Can we do this?

By: jjg

jjg — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:05:26 -0800

Yes. You won't get schedule data though, so you'll have to use the "Record by Time and Channel" function under "Pick Programs to Record".

By: bcwinters

bcwinters — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:11:51 -0800

The first hit for "use tivo without service" on Tivo's Customer Service page is this page which should give you the details you need.

By: disillusioned

disillusioned — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:26:31 -0800

Prepare to get nagged a ridiculous amount, too.

They're big on the nagging.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:28:11 -0800

Tivo without the service is just a fancy VCR. With the service you can say "Record the Daily Show every day," without the service you can just say "Record channel 56 M-T 23:00-23:30."

By: xo

xo — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 06:13:09 -0800

The only problem I've run into with using Tivo as a VCR is that eventually its clock started to lag, and it's impossible to re-set because it's not calling into the system anymore. So we have to remember to timeshift everything by five minutes.

By: aacheson

aacheson — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 08:19:34 -0800

Thank you everyone. Very helpful.